Happy New Year!

Written by Engel & Völkers on 12/31/15

Tonight the whole world will be celebrating the New Year. After the quiet Christmas period it’s time to pop those corks and put your dancing shoes on! We wish you a wonderful New Year’s Eve and all the best for the coming year! Would you like to spice up your party with some superstitious traditions? Read on for inspiration.

Traditions and customs form a big part of New Year, all of them stemming from a wish for a peaceful and happy New Year. There’s a widespread belief that the New Year can be made even luckier with the right rituals, good intentions and a sprinkling of superstition.

Hoping to be lucky in love

In China, single men and women throw mandarins into the sea in the hope that the New Year will bring them a partner. In Bulgaria, less romantically, they hope that pats on the back will bring health and happiness. In Brazil, it’s common to dress in white on New Year’s Eve, which promises purity, innocence, and above all a happy New Year. But just like in Chile and Italy, red underwear hides underneath, bringing passion and love in the New Year.

Wealth

Those who put money above love should try their luck with yellow underwear, at least according to one South American tradition. Eating lentil soup on New Year’s Eve is also said to bring financial reward. According to US tradition, this helps accumulate wealth, as lentils symbolise coins.

Pure luck

Other traditions that promise pure luck appear in Estonia, where seven, nine or twelve meals are eaten on New Year’s Eve, bringing strength and happiness in the New Year. In Spain they limit themselves to a simpler version: they eat twelve grapes at the twelve strokes of midnight, which promises luck and satisfaction. New Year sees people in the Czech Republic reading futures from a halved apple – a bit like the traditional German lead casting.